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www.plos.org What is the Public Library of Science (PLoS)? A not-for-profit organization of scientists committed to making the worlds scientific and medical literature a public resource Based in San Francisco, California, USA, with an editorial office in Cambridge, UK

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www.plos.org How does the Public Library of Science achieve its mission? By driving change in traditional scholarly publishing model to open- access By generating tools for mining and analyzing the scientific literature By making the literature both accessible and comprehensible to non-specialist readers

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www.plos.org The Past: A Scientific Publishers mission 4 November 1869 Natures Mission statement First, to place before the general public the grand results of Scientific work and Scientific discovery; and to urge the claims of Science to a more general recognition in Education and daily life. Secondly, to aid scientific men themselves, by giving early information of all advances made in any branch of natural knowledge throughout the world, and by affording them an opportunity of discussing the various scientific questions which arise from time to time

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www.plos.org Does the traditional subscription- based model serve science and medicine? Most potential audiences have no access to primary literature Economics are based on old print and paper system Limited connectivity and searchability Copyright restrictions limit uses and dissemination Science and medicine can advance more quickly if information is freely available.

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www.plos.org What is open access publishing? Free and unrestricted online access to the research literature and databases Users are licensed to download, print, copy, redistribute, and use Author retains copyright and the right to be acknowledged Papers are deposited in a public database that allows sophisticated searches (such as PubMedCentral) (see Bethesda Principles, April 2003)

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www.plos.org Why is open access important? Maximum impact for authors access to the largest possible audience New ways to access and use literature full-text searching and mining Greatly expanded access to research for scientists, educators, physicians, the public

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www.plos.org Editorial aims and scope The best life science research from molecules to ecosystems Outstanding service to authors editorial board working with professional editors from start to end Accessibility and relevance synopses, essays, and commentary in magazine section

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www.plos.org Myths and Misconceptions about Open Access Journals Quality stringent peer review Viability new business model Fairness fee waivers Impact challenge for any new journal Free = Open open access allows less restricted use

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www.plos.org Myth 1: Quality wont be maintained. Answer: There is nothing intrinsic to open access that changes the peer-review process. Open access journals are committed to stringent peer review.

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www.plos.org Myth 2: The Open Access business model is not viable. Answer: Open access publishing takes advantages of new technologies and the economics of electronic publishing to be sustainable.

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www.plos.org Myth 4: Open access journals have no impact factor. Answer: Any new journal has no impact factor. Open access journals can provide new ways to measure impact.

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www.plos.org Myth 5: Free access is the same as open access. Answer: Many open access publishers use a copyright license that allows the article to be freely reused and redistributed, not just read for free, while the author retains copyright and the right to be acknowledged for the original work. (see Creative Commons Attribution License at creativecommons.org)

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www.plos.org UK's Joint Informations Systems Committee (JISC)- JISC's Open Access Publishing Initiative will fund 50% of the publication charge for all authors from UK higher and further education institutions, for the first 40 papers accepted for publication. More information can be found in the press release. Learn about other JISC programs and funding opportunities to improve scholarly communication.UK higher and further education institutionsMore information can be found in the press release.other JISC programs and funding opportunities

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www.plos.org The Open Access Future Open access becomes the preferred mode of publishing Multiple open access publishing models thrive in a competitive market Innovative new tools and resources take full advantage of open access literature Full potential of scientific and medical creativity and productivity unleashed Public gains full access to research discoveries supported by public funds

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www.plos.org Committed to making the worlds scientific and medical literature a public resource